HISB has entered the growth field of Public Humanities, partnering with the New York
Council for the Humanities to promote new kinds of connections between humanities
research on campus and the communities that host and participate in it. With support
from NYCH, we are proud to host two graduate fellows in Public Humanities per year, who work on projects geared towards common interests and issues in our locality,
state and nation.

We’ve also begun an Undergraduate Humanities Club, geared to offer support and events
for undergraduate humanities majors, beginning in Fall 2014. At two lunches per semester,
members discuss issues and projects that can be pursued collectively or in smaller
groups, and pursue opportunities to partner with professors on research projects and
publications. Out of the UHC membership, one Undergraduate Intern per semester will
receive course credit for helping to brainstorm, plan and execute town-gown events,
such as the Community Conversations, funded with grants from the NYCH, that enable
us to bring local, regional and state activists and audiences to campus in mutual
deliberations on a range of issues, from environmental crisis to Native American and
African-American historical relations on Long Island and their role in the Island’s
17th and 18th century status as a sugar colony.

It is hoped such initiatives will spur our Humanities and Social Science Departments
on campus to develop Masters degrees in Public Humanities, which are in development
in History and English, among others.